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©ije iRoab 

OF THE 

Coning 3f?art 




I » • 


'HU 


31jp Snlfitaton Sfuitl §er»s 

By Annie Fellows Johnston 


Each, small 16mo, cloth, 
decorated cover and frontis- 
piece, with decorative text 
borders . . . 76c. 




List of Titles 

THE RESCUE OF THE PRINCESS 
WINSOME: A Fairy Play for Old 
and Young. 

KEEPING TRYST: A Tale of King 
Arthur’s Time. 

*IN THE DESERT OF WAITING: 
The Legend of Camelback Moun- 
tain. 

*THE THREE WEAVERS: A Fairy 
Tale for Fathers and Mothers as 
Well as for Their Daughters. 

THE LEGEND OF THE BLEED- 
ING HEART. 

*THE JESTER’S SWORD. 

*Also bound in full flexible leather, 
with special tooling in gold, boxed 

$2.00 


THE PAGE COMPANY 
53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. 


OCT 20 1922 


V 

















The ROAD 

of We 

LOVING 
HEART 


BY 

ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON 

Author of” The Little Colonel Series,”” Big Brother,” "In 
the Desert of Waiting,” " Keeping Tryst,” 

” The Jester’s Sword,” etc. 




THE 


BOSTON 

VAGE COMPANY 

MDCCCCXXII 





©C1A686439 





Srttg, ilmttar 

AND 

HER TEDDY BEAR 






















OF THE LITTLE COLONEL 


Lloydsboro Valley, Ky. 
Dearest Betty, 

Do you remember the 
Houseparty we had at Lo- 
cust when we were chil- 
dren? When we all caught 
the measles and thought 
you were going blind? 

You told us the story of 
the Road of the Loving 
Heart, and Eugenia gave 
us the Tusitala rings to help 
us remember. 

I I 



TO BETTY LEWIS 


Well, I have tried to tell 
it to my little Rob, but he is 
only six, and I find it hard 
to explain just what that 
road is. Couldn’t you put 
it into a fairy tale that will 
help him to understand? 

Devotedly, 

Lloyd. 


12 









BY BETTY LEWIS 


Lone Rock, Arizona 
Dearest Lloyd, 

. . . and so here it is, just 
as I tell it to my own little 
Betty. It is a hodgepodge 
of fairy tale and human hap- 
pening, and I don’t know 
what Robert Louis Steven- 
son would say to my putting 
him into it, along with a 
brown bear. But I don’t 
believe that our beloved 

“Tusitala” would mind, if 
IS 





THE STORY OF 


iSoaft 

of % ffimring Impart 

THAT 

f-lt^abrtlj Urtuia Warp 

SENT TO 

3jloi|ii S’tjprman Maott 












THE ROAD OF 

times made it very uncom- 
fortable for every one in the 
castle. 

In spite of her fits of 
dreadful temper her parents 
were very fond of little Star- 
bright, as they called her. 
Their one fear was that she 
might wander off by herself 
sometime and meet one of 
the strange creatures of the 
Wood. 

If she always had a civil 




THE LOVING HEART 


tongue in her head it would 
make a difference. “But 
suppose,” said they, “she 
should meet the old witch 
who is always thirsty, and 
should not answer her po- 
litely. No telling what kind 
of a curse would be laid 
upon her. She might come 
home with toads and vipers 
hopping from her tongue.” 

And they bade her nurse 
tell her the story of the two 


21 








THE LOVING HEART 


sisters of whom the old 
witch asked a drink of water. 
One ever after dropped ru- 
bies and diamonds from her 
lips whenever she spoke, be- 
cause she had answered 
kindly; and the other drop- 
ped toads and vipers in 
punishment for her harsh 
speech. 

But it made no difference 
to the little princess Star- 
bright when she heard it. 


23 


THE ROAD OF 

She bit the nurse and 
slapped the page, and threw 
her silver porringer at the 
footman, and screamed until 
her parents had to put their 
fingers into their royal ears. 

At such times the big 
brown bear which was kept 
in the courtyard, as the pet 
of all the castle folk, was 
the only one who dared say 
anything to her. He would 
g-rowl and g-rowl, as if he 
24 


THE LOVING HEART 


quite intended to eat her up. 
But he only meant it as a 
friendly warning to be good, 
for he was the kindest and 
most helpful bear in the 
world. 

Now it was told about in 
the village that there was a 
wonderful giant magician in 
the Wood, by the name of 
Thunderbludgeon. He had 
a pair of magic spectacles. 
It was said that if Starbright 


25 




THE ROAD OF 



THE LOVING HEART 


could only look through 
them she would be cured for- 
ever of her fits of temper. 

When the prince heard 
that, he cried, “Let Thun- 
derbludgeon be found. Half 
of my kingdom will I give 
to the one who will bring me 
his magic spectacles !” 

But, alas, no one could 
find him, and as Starbright 
grew worse and worse, the 
prince and princess had to 


27 



THE ROAD OF 


keep their fingers in their 
royal ears much of the time. 

Now Starbright heard so 
much talk about the magic 
spectacles that she was curi- 
ous to look through them 
and see what she could see. 
So one day, when her par- 
ents rode away on their 
white palfreys and the nurse 
was talking to the gardener, 
she slipped out of the castle 
gate and ran away to look 


28 









THE ROAD OF 


for the magician’s house. 

For a long time she 
walked and she walked and 
she walked, but she couldn’t 
find it. Then she came to 
the edge of the Enchanted 
Wood, and she walked and 
she walked and she walked 
in that, but she couldn’t find 
it. She asked every bird 
and beast she met, but no 
one would tell her the way 
to the magician’s house. 


30 






THE ROAD OF 


All day she traveled. The 
sun went down and it be- 
gan to grow cold and dark 
in the great gloomy wood. 

She wished she had not 
been so disobedient as to run 
away, when she had been 
told never to go beyond the 
court-yard gate alone. She 
wished she were safely back 
in her little white bed at 
home. She sat down at the 
root of a big oak tree and be- 
32 




THE ROAD OF 


gan to cry. All sorts of 
queer animals came out of 
the Wood and stood there 
looking at her. She was so 
frightened and cold and 
hungry that the big tears 
rolled down her face. 

Then the black night 
came and she couldn’t see 
the strange animals watch- 
ing her any more, but she 
could hear them rustling 
around in the dark and she 


34 






THE LOVING HEART 



shivered and shook until her 
teeth chattered. Just when 
she was about to die of 
fright, something came up 
and laid a big furry paw on 
her arm. It was her good 
friend, her own pet bear 
who, in spite of the way she 
sometimes treated him, 
loved her dearly. He had 
followed her all the way to 
see that no harm came to 
her. 

35 






THE ROAD OF 


J 


He had a sugar tart in his 
pocket which he gave her 
to eat, and then he covered 
her up with oak leaves as 
if they had been a warm 
blanket. All night he sat 
beside her while she slept, 
holding her hand in his kind 
furry paw to keep her from 
being afraid. 

In the morning he showed 
her the way to the magi- 
cian’s house. They could 
36 


THE LOVING HEART 


see him up in his high tower, 
peering around through his 
magic spectacles which 
were as big as wagon 
wheels. He was a giant 
magician and the ugliest 
person Starbright had ever 
seen. Still, she was not 
afraid of him, for his voice 
was kind when he called 
down to her: 

“Riddledy, riddledy, riddle 
maree ! 


37 



THE ROAD OF 


What is it here that you wish 
to see?” 

And Starbright called 
back to him, “I want to look 
through your magic spec- 
tacles.” 

With that he answered 
her, 

“First cut the wood and 
mend the fire 

If you would have your 
heart’s desire.” 

But when the bear had 
38 


THE LOVING HEART 


found the ax and cut a pile 
of wood, and Starbright had 
stacked it beside the fire- 
place, the giant called down 
again, 

“Riddledy, riddledy, riddle 
maree ! 

What is it here that you wish 
to see?” 

“Please, Mr. Magician, I 
want to look through your 
magic spectacles,” called 
Starbright again. 


39 






THE LOVING HEART 


“Then stir the fire and boil 
the pot, 

And serve my dinner piping 
hot,” 

was the answer. 

Starbright would not have 
known the first thing to do 
if she had been by herself, 
but the brown bear knew 
exactly what to do. He 
stirred the fire, put some 
more water in the soup, and 
presently poured it out into 


41 


THE ROAD OF 


a dish as big as a wash tub, 
for the giant magician to 
eat. 

While he was eating, 
Starbright and the bear hid 
behind the kitchen door 
watching him. They hoped 
there would be a few spoon- 
fuls left, for they were very 
hungry; but there wasn’t a 
drop. 

When the giant had swal- 
lowed the last spoonful he 


42 


THE LOVING HEART 


went back into the tower, 
and they thought he had for- 
gotten them. But presently 
he called down : 

“Riddledy, riddledy, riddle 
maree ! 

Come up in the tower and 
see what you’ll see.” 

So they climbed and they 
climbed and they climbed, 
up the high stairs till they 
reached the tower. 

Now Starbright had ex- 


43 


<Cc*) 




THE LOVING HEART 


pected to see all sorts of 
pretty and wonderful things 
through the magic specta- 
cles — rainbows and jewels 
and velvet as soft and fine 
as a butterfly’s wing, but she 
was disappointed. All she 
saw was a road. 

The magician rubbed the 
spectacles until they shone 
so clearly that she could look 
over mountains and across 
seas, to a far off island in the 

P 


45 






THE LOVING HEART 

story about it” said the magi- 
cian. 

“Once there was a white 
man who came to this island, 
because he was ill and ex- 
pected to die. He bought 
himself a home and settled 
down to spend the rest of 
his days in this wonderful 
climate. The native people 
had many chiefs who were 
always making war on each 
other, but this man became 
47 




3ZPCE 



THE ROAD OF 


the friend of each one, and 
tried to smooth over their 
quarrels. 

“He was so good to them 
that they used to say, ‘The 
day is not longer than his 
kindness.’ He could tell 
wonderful stories, so they 
gave him the name of Tusi- 
tala, which means tale-teller, 
and they loved and trusted 
him above any other man 
on all the island. 

48 


THE LOVING HEART 


“When the wars stop- 
ped at last, ten of these 
chiefs were in prison. Tu- 
sitala visited them, com- 
forted them, and finally had 
them set free. They were 
so grateful to him that they 
went directly to his home, 
and, though some of them 
were old and crippled and 
feeble, they worked for 
weeks in the terrible heat, 
digging a road which he 


49 





THE LOVING HEART 

had long wanted. When it 
was finished they wrote 
above it these words: 

“ ‘Remembering the great 
love of his highness, Tusi- 
tala, and his loving care 
when we were in prison, 
we have made him this road 
which we have dug forever, 
The road of the loving 
heart’ 

“Now,” said the magi- 
cian, “as long as that island 
51 





THE ROAD OF 


is in the sea, Tusitala will 
be gratefully remembered 
whenever people travel 
along that road.” 

Starbright said nothing, 
for she was disappointed. 
She had expected to see 
something very different. 

Presently the magician 
said, “Now rub the spec- 
tacles again and look this 
other way, and see what you 
will see.” 


52 


THE LOVING HEART 


So Starbright rubbed the 
spectacles and looked the 
other way, but all she saw 
was just another road. This 
road was a very disagreeable 
place to walk, for it was full 
of stones and pitfalls and 
stumbling places. As she 
looked closer she was sur- 
; prised to see many people 
she knew walking along it. 
She saw her father and 
mother and her nurse and all 


53 





THE ROAD OF 





THE LOVING HEART 


the people who lived at the 
castle and the village. And 
they all plodded wearily 
along, falling into the briars 
and stumbling through the 
ruts, and bruising their feet 
on the great stones. 

Having just come such a 
long and wearisome jour- 
ney herself, Starbright knew 
how they felt and she was 
sorry for them, especially 
for her mother and nurse, 
55 


THE ROAD OF 


who were weeping as they 
walked along. 

“Why do they travel on 
such a road?” asked Star- 
bright. “Why don’t they 
choose a nice smooth 
path?” 

The magician answered, 
“This is the road that you 
made for them. It is the 
memory you left behind you, 
and every time they think of 
you they are forced to trav- 
5 « 


THE LOVING HEART 


el this road. Look closer.” 

So Starbright looked 
closer through the magic 
spectacles, and saw that the 
stones were made out of her 
disobedience, and the thorns 
were her disagreeable cry- 
ing spells, and that every 
time any one thought of her, 
instead of remembering 
happy things she had done, 
their memories tripped up 
on all the unpleasant, selfish 
57 






THE ROAD OF 


things. She hung her head, 
much ashamed. 

“Nobody could call that 
a road of the loving heart,” 
said the magician, “but now 
I’ll show you one that is.” 

Starbright looked again, 
and this time she saw a short 
road, but it was all smooth 
and shining. Her mother 
and father and nurse were 
walking along this one, too, 
and all the people from the 
58 



tl±L 


THE ROAD OF 


castle, and they were all 
smiling. To her surprise 
she could see her own self on 
this road, and she was smil- 
ing also. 

“This is the road the 
brown bear is leaving be- 
hind him,” said the magi- 
cian. “Nobody can think 
of him without smiling, be- 
cause he is such a comfort- 
able, friendly sort of bear. 
He never says anything 

6 o 



THE LOVING HEART 

cross nor does anything un- 
pleasant for your thoughts 
to trip over when you re- 
member him. Even when 
he g-rowled at you it was in 
kindness. He was warn- 
ing you that you were 
naughty, and trying to help 
you to be good. Do you. 
see that specially smooth 
spot in the road where the 
wild-flowers are growing? 
That is the place he dug in 
6 1 





O./ - JKoLZ. 


Bit (lit vi i 


THE ROAD OF 



your memory last night 
when he was so kind, cover- 
ing you up with the leaves, 
and holding your hand in 
his big paw to keep you from 
being frightened at the dark. 
He dug a memory of his 
kindness into your heart that 
can never be forgotten.” 

Then he looked at Star- 
bright very hard, and said in 
a deep, displeased voice 
which shook the windows 
62 


Ik 








THE ROAD OF 


till they rattled, “To think 
that a bear should be kinder 
than a princess!” 

That made Starbright feel 
so ashamed that she didn’t 
want to stay and look at any- 
thing more; but when you 
once put on the magic spec- 
tacles you cannot take them 
off until the magician is 
ready. So she had to look 
at more roads, whether she 
wanted to or not. It seemed 
6 4 


THE LOVING HEART 


to her that there were mil- 
lions, for each person in 
the world has to leave such 
a road behind him in the 
hearts of all who know him. 

Over her father’s road, 
and her mother’s, and her 
nurse’s was written the 
same legend that was written 
over Tusitala’s. But over 
Starbright’s was written, 
“The Road of the Selfish 

65 


Heart r 



THE ROAD OF 


She couldn’t help seeing 
that it was so full of thorns 
and stones that no one could 
think of her at all without 
remembering how naughty 
and selfish she had been. 
When she looked again, and 
saw that her parents were 
crying because her running 
away had put a big rock in 
the road which hurt them 
cruelly, she began to cry, 
herself, so hard that she 
66 


THE LOVING HEART 


could no longer see through 
the spectacles. Then the 
magician took them off of 
her. 

“Please, Mr. Thunder- 
bludgeon,’’ said the brown 
bear, “I think she has been 
punished enough. Be so 
kind as to let us go home.” 

“Oh, I have! I have!” 
sobbed Starb right. “I did- 
n’t know that my naughty 
ways were digging memo- 



THE ROAD OF 


ries in the hearts of my 
friends that would last for- 
ever. I’ll be so careful 
after this, for I want people 
to remember only pleasant 
things about me.” 

When the magician heard 
this he opened the door and 
let her and the brown bear 
go down the tower stairs. 

They walked and they 
walked and they walked, 
and soon they came to 



THE LOVING HEART 


a whispering brook. It 
seemed to be always whis- 
pering to the stones over 
which it was running. And 
beside it grew whispering, 
grasses, that whispered 
when the wind blew through 
them. The brown bear sat 
down on the bank of the 
brook, and, plucking three 
blades of grass, braided 
them into a ring which he 
put on Starbright’s finger. 

69 




THE ROAD OF 


“Dip it into the brook,” 
said the brown bear. 

Starbright did so, and the 
next instant the ring of whis- 
pering grass changed into 
a ring of shining gold ; but 
it was still a whispering 
ring, as she found out later. 

After that they walked 
and they walked and they 
walked, until it was nearly 
night and they were very 
hungry. Then they came 


70 











m 

■r i nSli • « ■ ■ " /TT 1 

n 


pi 


it 


p 1 

* V % i'i 

• » • 
1 



THE ROAD OF 


to some bushes with a few 
berries on them. Now Star- 
bright’s little fingers could 
pick much more quickly 
than the bear’s clumsy paws, 
and she was picking and eat- 
ing so fast that she was get- 
ting the most of them. Sud- 
denly the little ring on her 
finger began to whisper 
something to her. The 
brown bear could not hear 
the magic words it said 
72 









THE ROAD OF 


to her, but he guessed what 
they were, for she stopped 
putting the berries into her 
mouth and gave him double 
handfuls of them as fast as 
she could gather them. 

After that they walked 
and they walked and they 
walked again, until they 
came to the end of the En- 
chanted Wood and reached 
the castle gate at last. 

The prince and the prin- 









THE LOVING HEART 

cess were so glad to see their 
only child that they almost 
swooned for joy, and Star- 
bright was so glad to be at 
home again that she was as 
good as heart could wish. 

Never again did her fits 
of temper leave any stones 
and thorns behind her for 
any one to stumble over. 
For when she was tempted 
to bite the nurse or slap the 
page or throw her silver por- 



75 









THE LOVING HEART 


ringer at the footman, the 
whispering ring always 
whispered in her ear in time 
to stop her. 

Even the brown bear did 
not know what magic words 
it spoke, but he guessed 
them aright. It always 
said: 

“Remember the Road of 
the Loving Heart." 


THE END 




‘ 



























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